A taxonomic reconsideration of the White-bellied Bustard Eupodotis senegalensis

Résumé fourni par la source

Possibly owing to chronic nomenclatural confusion and/or the difficulty of encountering sufficient museum material in one place, the taxonomy of the White-bellied Bustard Eupodotis senegalensis has remained unreviewed in modern times. However, a combination of the holdings at the Natural History Museum, Tring, and the availability of digital images on the Macaulay Library website now provides an opportunity for such work. Four subspecies, nominate senegalensis (West Africa to Ethiopia), canicollis including synonymised erlangeri (Ethiopia to Tanzania), mackenziei (Gabon to Zambia) and barrowii (essentially South Africa), were measured and scored for diagnostic characters. The eastern form canicollis proves to differ in seven characters, five of them distinctive (black subocular line, all-grey neck, upperwing pattern, black axillaries, greater size), and is recommended for species rank (‘Grey-necked Bustard’). The other three are largely similar and here retained as one species, but barrowii and mackenziei together differ from nominate senegalensis to the point where, with further study, species rank might prove appropriate. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E60EAFB2-2F6D-4309-89E3-3C635679B751

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.